NPL 004 / 0907 / OBS 108
Obstacles to freedom of peaceful assembly / Ill-treatment / Arbitrary arrests / Releases
Nepal
September 4, 2007
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Nepal.
The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources about obstacles to the freedom of peaceful assembly of women human rights defenders of the Badi community, a small Dalit community in Nepal, who denounced the violations of their human rights by feudal structures of the state[1].
According to the information received, on August 22, 2007, three dozen women human rights defenders from the Badi community staged protests in Singha Durbar, in Kathmandu. Some of their demands included rehabilitation of women who have been forced to work as commercial sex workers, right to own land, representation of at least one female and one male candidate in the constituent assembly, establishment of legal bodies at all levels of the government addressing issues such as racial discrimination, untouchability and legal identity to their children who are deprived of citizenship certificates. In the process of asserting their rights, these women were severely beaten for entering the “restricted areas”[2] and detained in custody. All protestors were released later on that day, without being charged.
On August 27, 2007, as a continuation of their demands, 450 Badi women and men, out of which 225 were women from the Badi Community Struggle Committee, along with members of the Dalit Civil Society Movement, staged a joint protest to enter in Singha Durbar. However, they were charged with showers of truncheon. The police even tried to take off the sari and petticoat of Ms. Uma Devi Badi, the Coordinator of the Badi Community Struggle Committee. The Police arrested 120 protestors and took to various police battalion areas. Among others, Mr. Binod Pahari, Head of the Dalit Civil Society Movement, Ms. Uma Devi Badi and ten members of Women Human Rights Defenders of Women’s Rehabilitation Centre (WOREC) were taken to the Armed Police Force Battalion number 2 in Maharajgunj. They were all released in the evening, without charge against them.
In addition, seven protestors were injured, including five women.
The police further stated that they had been ordered “from above” to charge the protestors if they were to try to enter the “restricted areas”.
Please write to the Nepalese authorities urging them to:
Please also write to the diplomatic representations of Nepal in your respective country.
***
Geneva - Paris, September 4, 2007
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
The Observatory, a FIDH and OMCT venture, is dedicated to the protection of Human Rights Defenders and aims to offer them concrete support in their time of need.
The Observatory was the winner of the 1998 Human Rights Prize of the French Republic.
To contact the Observatory, call the emergency line:
Email : Appeals@fidh-omct.org
Tel et fax FIDH : + 33 1 43 55 55 05 / 33 1 43 55 18 80
Tel et fax OMCT : +41 22 809 49 39 / 41 22 809 49 29
[1] The Badi community is one of the most disadvantaged ethnic groups of the Nepalese society. Badi members live in the western, mid western and far western regions of Nepal. The women of this community are stigmatised and disgraced by state, society and community for practicing commercial sex work as a major source of their earnings. They have strongly demanded to consider this practice as a violation of their human rights and to punish the responsible institutions and community.
[2] Areas marked by the Ministry of Home Affairs that do not allow entry to demonstrators.
| Tweet |
English